The Majority of Egypt’s House of Representatives have rejected an initiative to reach reconciliation with Muslim Brotherhood members who did not face criminal charges, Youm7 reported. Minister of Legal Affairs and House of Representatives Affairs Magdy al-Agatti proposed the reconciliation agreement several days ago.

Egypt’s Ministry of Justice has rejected a proposal to remove an article of the Criminal Code concerning the contempt of religion, Ayman Rafah, ministry representative at the Parliament said Sunday. Article 98F in the Egyptian Penal Code stipulates that those who use religion in speech, writing or any means to “instigate strife and division, or disdain and contempt for any of the revealed religions or the sects belonging there to” will be sentenced to no less than six months and up to five years in prison.

Hesham Badawi voted as CAO Chairperson by parliament

Egypt’s House of Representatives agreed, by 329 votes, to appoint Judge Hesham Badawi as head of the Central Auditing Organization. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has decreed to appoint Badawi as a successor to former CAO chairperson Hesham Genena who is being investigated after he stated to the media that a total of 600 billion EGP ($75 billion) was stolen from public money due to the corruption in 2015.

House of Representatives ratifies Saudi $1.5 billion Program for Sinai Development

On Sunday the Economic Committee of the House of Representatives ratified the Program of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdelaziz on Sinai Peninsula Development. In April King Salman visited Cairo where he witnessed the signing of a $1.5 billion deal to establish Bedouin projects in the Sinai Peninsula.

ANHRI calls for release of Syrian expat jailed in Egypt over deal of Red Sea Islands

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) called for the release of Syrian “Hesham Zoheir,” who was sentenced to five years in jail and fined EGP 100,000. The ANHRI condemned his imprisonment although he already paid the fine and rejected his deportation to Syria which suffers from political and security turmoil. On May 24, Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Zoheir and 46 co-defendants over “illegal protesting” against an Egyptian-Saudi deal per which Cairo announced Saudi sovereignty over two disputed islands in the Red Sea.